By Staff
On its way to the Gobles Invitational championship, the Brandywine varsity volleyball team lost just two games and won 12, improving its overall match record to 12-9-6.
The Bobcats were a perfect 3-0 in pool play before beating Class D No. 7-ranked Climax-Scotts 15-5, 11-5, 17-15 in the quarterfinals.
Brandywine then breezed past Fennville, 15-8, 15-10, in the semifinals.
In the championship match, Three Rivers beat Brandywine 15-5 in the first game before the Bobcats roared back for wins of 15-8 and 15-10 to win the title.
Juniors Nikki Cooper, Emily Whitney and Katie Tuohy had a big day for the Bobcats.
Cooper led the hitting attack with 38 kills to go along with 34 digs and eight aces.
Tuohy led the team in blocks with seven and also had 31 kills.
Whitney had a team-high 41 digs, 37 kills, six blocks and eight aces.
Bridget Mitchell had 112 assists and 18 digs on the day while Kayla Asmus had 28 digs and six aces.
Ashley Antus helped out with 18 digs and Nikki Martyniuk came up with four blocks.
Brandywine hosts Cassopolis Wednesday night for a Lakeland Conference dual match at 6 p.m.
Vikings fall short in title match at New Buffalo
The Niles varsity volleyball team reached the championship match but could not get past River Valley Saturday at the New Buffalo Invitational.
The Vikings fell short, 16-14 and 15-7, in the title match against the Mustangs, an honorable mention team in the most recent Class C poll.
Niles finished the day with a 5-2 record which lifted its overall record to 12-12-9.
Melissa Olsen and Rachael Every led the Vikings' hitting attack with 27 and 24 kills, respectively. Sarah Dreher added 20 kills and Amber Peters helped out with 15 kills.
Olsen and Every also led the defensive effort as Olsen had a team-high seven blocks and Every had five blocks and 20 digs. Ashton Parks led the team with 28 digs while Ashley Pingel had 24 digs and Dreher had 21 digs.
Sandy Molnar had 66 assists, 10 digs and two blocks.
Kaylee Bonner served up eight aces and Parks served six aces.
Niles is off until Wednesday, Jan. 28, when it hosts Dowagiac in Big 16 West Division action.